Safe Haven
by RunningInThePouringRain
Summary: AU/AH - Stefan Salvatore is a police officer working in New York. His latest assignment is to protect Elena Gilbert from her ex-boyfriend and his gang. He finds himself drawn to her, will he be able to protect her from her past while he is falling for her or will one of them get hurt?
1. Chapter 1

Hey everyone, so this is my first TVD fanfic. I couldn't help it – I ship stelena so much! And so this little fic was born. It will probably end up being a long story and I have a sort of direction in mind just not sure how to get there yet so my plan is just to write and see what happens! The characters may seem a little ooc in this story due to the fact its a AH/AU story!

Let me know what you think/ any ideas you have for this story!

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The sound of his phone ringing was what woke Stefan Salvatore from his much needed sleep. He had worked late last night in order to finish up some paperwork on his latest case. He was a police officer in New York and unfortunately that meant little sleep and a lot of late nights at the office. Stefan didn't mind too much, he loved his job but having only got a few hours sleep the night before he didn't take too kind to being woken up.

He groaned into his pillow before stretching his arm out to his bedside table, blindly searching for his phone. Once he located it he raised himself up more in order to answer the phone.

"Hello?" Stefan greeted handing a run through his light brown hair. His voice was still rough from sleep.

"Salvatore! I have a new assignment for you, a big one. I will explain when you get to the precinct so get moving!" His boss, Alaric Saltzman, informed him. Stefan sighed, another case? It really was a busy month for the criminals of New York City.

"Okay Ric, give me 20 minutes and I will be right there." Stefan replied before ending the conversation. He groaned once more before tossing his covers aside and making his way to the bathroom to shower.

Ten minutes later he was ready to leave. Stefan grabbed his phone, car keys and black leather jacket before slamming the front door of his flat shut behind him. The precinct wasn't too far away from where he lived and so he made it there with time to spare.

"Brought you a coffee little brother, thought you could do with it" Damon said walking towards him. Stefan gratefully took the offered beverage before following his brother into Ric's officer. Stefan and Damon had been partners for nearly two years, every since Damon moved to the New York precinct after a bad break up with his ex. Stefan loved it because he trusted Damon to have his back and when the time came his brother didn't disappoint him. Over the last two years the Salvatore brothers had been in some dangerous situations and it was because of that they were New York's finest.

"Right guys, I will cut straight to the chase. What do you know about the originals?" Ric asked opening up various folders that were in front of him.

"You mean the biggest, most dangerous gang in the whole of New York?" Damon asked sarcastically. Every officer in the city had heard of the originals, they were on NYPD's most wanted list.

"The very one. The gang is lead by a man named Elijah and he is smart, its one of the main reasons we can't seem to catch these guys. They know how to cover their tracks." Ric explained handing Damon and Stefan a surveillance photo that had been taken of Elijah in some parking lot. "If we are being honest, I don't think there is a crime these guys haven't committed. GBH, drugs, fraud, murder, you name it."

"So what's changed?" Stefan asked wondering where his boss was going with this.

"Elena Gilbert" Ric said handing the boys another photo. This one was of a woman. She had long brown hair and looked stunning. "She is Elijah's ex-girlfriend. For the past two years she has been with Elijah and the rest of the originals. She knows everything, how they operate, what their plans are. She contacted me yesterday; she wants to help us nail these guys. She is will to provide us with the information we need and in return I promised we would protect her from Elijah."

"Why would she want to help us arrest the guy she loved? That doesn't make sense!" Damon asked

"She wants her life back, wants out of the gang and she knows the only way to do that is for Elijah to be behind bars." Ric explained, "Look, this girl seems genuine, within about 10 minutes of meeting her it was clear she didn't belong in Elijah's gang. I don't know how she got there in the first place and it isn't our concern but this is probably the best chance we are going to get to catch this guy, we have to take it."

"Okay, you're right, what's the plan?" Stefan asked placing the photos back on Ric's desk.

"Well, she is coming in to meet with us in an hour. She will tell us whatever she can. Stefan I am assigning you as her protection detail. If Elijah finds out what Elena has done he will kill her, you are going to be living with her, full time protection. You're main goal is to keep her alive. Damon and myself will be following up on the information she gives us. All your other cases will be given to another officer. This assignment is you're main focus until Elijah has been arrested."

"Oh, babysitting a spoilt princess, don't envy you there brother." Damon smirked.

"Damon has a point Ric, does Elena know about any of this?" Stefan asked, hoping she did know about the fact a guy she didn't know would be living with her for the foreseeable future.

"Yes, I have explained all of this to Miss Gilbert. She is willing to accept the arrangement; it's either that or a high risk of ending up in a body bag. You're not a bad guy Stefan, give yourself some credit." Ric laughed.

A timid knock on the office door brought the men out of their playful banter. They all turned around to see who the newcomer was. That was when Stefan found himself staring at the beauty that was Elena Gilbert.

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So what do you guys think? Proper Stefan/Elena interaction in the next chapter – I just had to get the background established first. You will learn more about Elena's story in the next few chapters. But it really seems our Stefan is becoming smitten – he hasn't even had a conversation with the woman yet!

Please Review – any feedback or ideas for the story are appreciated – other characters will be making an appearance in later chapters!


	2. Chapter 2

Hey everyone! THANK YOU SO MUCH for all the review and support to continue this story! For you got your wish :P Chapter 2.

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"Miss Gilbert, please come in, take a seat," Ric said, gesturing to the seat in front of his desk.

"It's Elena. Sorry, I know I am early I just want to get this over with." Elena smiled sheepishly as she took a seat. Glancing to her right Elena instantly felt butterflies in her stomach. There, leaning against the filing cabinet like a god, was the most gorgeous man she had ever seen. His light brown was styled yet messy and looked effortless tousled. He had the greenest eyes and his white shirt did well in emphasising his muscular chest.

"Of course. I would like you to meet Stefan and Damon Salvatore. They are the officers on this case with me. Stefan here will be assigned as your protection until Elijah has been caught." Ric's voice broke Elena out of her daydreams about what that white shirt was hiding.

"Welcome to the other side of the law." The other guy in the room, Damon, spoke. He was rather handsome too with his dark hair and icy blue eyes but nothing compared to his brother in Elena's eyes.

"Thanks, I am going to take that as a compliment rather than an insult. No wait I do know you. You dated my friend Bonnie, well I say dated it was more of a one night stand." Elena replied, remembering how Damon had met them in a club and proceeded to flirt with Bonnie all night.

"I remember her! Dark hair? The most amazing eyes. What can I say? So many women, so little time." Damon smirked, Elena ignored the comment, punching a police officer wasn't the best way to start her new life.

"I'm Stefan Salvatore, ignore my older brother, he's an idiot." Stefan spoke for the first time. Could a voice be sexy? Stefan's voice was definitely sexy.

"I fully intend too. It's a pleasure to meet you Mr Salvatore" Elena smiled at him holding out her hand for him to shake.

"The pleasure is all mine Miss Gilbert" Stefan replied before raising her hand up to kiss the back of it lightly. Elena could have sworn her legs turned to jelly the second he touched her.

"Right, shall we do what we came here for?" Ric broke up their moment, clearing his throat. Stefan and Elena smiled at one another before taking a seat around the desk along with Damon and Ric.

"Okay, this is everything I have and know about the Originals. Elijah's not really the kind of guy that you ask questions too but he would never expect me to do this so its more details than I suspect you have." Elena explained producing a folder from her bag. She slid it across the table, all the men in the room looking at it eagerly.

"Which begs the question: why are you screwing over your boyfriend?" Damon asked

"Ex-boyfriend and I have my reasons." Elena clarified. "Elijah does most of his business in his sisters club. It's a family loyalty thing, the clubs upmarket, if you don't know someone in the Originals then you are not getting in. All the drugs, money and stolen goods are shipped out from there. Seriously though, you have to be careful, Elijah has been doing this for a very long time. He is willing to do whatever it takes to stay out of prison. He has contacts everywhere, lawyers, police, you name it."

"Elena, we will be fine, we know what we are doing. You have made it so much easier with this information." Ric reassured her.

"Really? I saw what happened to the last guy who walked into that bar trying to arrest Elijah. He was beaten within an inch of his life and then was left to die in an alley by Klaus, Elijah's brother. Elijah doesn't like getting his hands dirty; he gets other people to do the work for him. I may have got you in the door but the hard part will be getting out in one piece. You don't go after Elijah, he comes after you." Elena replied.

"You got out" Damon pointed out

"No I didn't, I ran away, the only reason he hasn't come after me is because I'm not important. I can't add to his fortunes therefore I can be replaced. Once he finds out what I did, which he will, its only going to be a matter of time before Elijah tracks me down, he doesn't like loose ends." Elena explained.

"That's why I'm here." Stefan replied, he had been silent, listening to Elena explain what she knew but the idea that she thought she was replaceable and not important made his heart ache. This girl was beautiful, brave and she honestly couldn't see it. Stefan made a promise to himself to fix that.

"Stefan, you're another person, another cop. Elijah doesn't care about how many people he has to kill in order to clean up the mess. He won't hesitate about shooting you if it comes down to it."

"That's fine, I won't be hesitating either." He replied simply.

"Okay, I think that's enough for today, me and Damon need time to go over all of this and plan accordingly and you too have to find a way of living together. Elena, be nice, Stefan is just trying to do his job. Listen to what he says, it will keep you alive." Ric finished, Elena looked like she was going to argue but Ric dismissed them all so she quietly followed Stefan out of his office.

"Did you walk here?" Stefan asks her as he hands some things from his desk

"No I took a cab. I don't have a car, Elijah owned my last one and I had no intention of bringing it with me when I left." She explained

"Good, we need to stop by mine so I can pack a bag, then I can drive us back to your place."

"You're not happy about this are you?" Stefan asked once they were in his car on the way to his apartment. Elena had been quiet the whole journey and it was starting to worry him.

"Its not that, it's just this whole situation, I don't want anyone to get hurt. I mean you are practically giving up your life for the next few weeks just to keep me safe from some guy I use to date due to a bad decision I made." Elena explained turning in her seat slightly to look at him.

"Elena, Damon and Ric can handle this, I promise. They are the best, a great team. I know Damon looks like a twig but he's tough." This caused Elena was giggle slightly.

"But what about your life? Friends? Girlfriend? All of that has to go on hold for me."

"Work is basically my life, sad but true. I spend far too much time chained to my desk so to be honest this will feel like a holiday to me. My job is to keep you safe and that's what I am doing to do. It would make it easier if you didn't fight me on it." Stefan smirked at her definitely causing the butterflies to return. Elena just nodded knowing deep down Stefan was right.

It was a few minutes later before Stefan spoke again.

"Elena?"

"Yes?"

"I don't have a girlfriend"

That caused Elena to genuinely smile for the first time in what felt like a really long time.

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So what do you guys think?

Next chapter – Stefan gets domestic and we learn more about Elena's past with Elijah.

Please review!


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